Author
Topic: Newb to the forum world (Read 5118 times)

I'm really new to forums and I am very familiar with Facebook, very interested in it to be honest. But to put it into a nutshell, I'm interested in starting a community about sports and athletic development. Forums seem very appealing to me because of the social networking gist of it. But in general, what forum software is out there and how can it benefit me as a website owner?

It will give you everything you need to start your sports forum. Also, forums IMO are a lot better than social networks (I run them too) because they are more of a tight knit community than a big network of different groups and cliques. With a forum, you can develop better relationships with a mass than you can with a social network group or even full blown site.

Give it a shot and if you ever need help, feel free to ask it here (if you use SMF that is ) and feel free to shoot me a PM too because I am always willing to help when I can

Thank you for your wonderful advice. I also appreciate the fact that you even offered to give me a hand with your help. It seems that forum software is the place to be when it comes to running a community base social network. After further research, it would be a more viable option to go with because of the control you have over the posters. That's one feature that the social networking sites don't provide and it seems that is going to be most vital to the website.

SMF is definitely a great software from the looks of it. I've also taken a look at other websites running IPB and vBulletin. I also did try their demos and downloaded SMF on my local computer, installed perfectly.

Don't mean to be much of a bother any further, but as a website owner which of the three do you think would be best suitable for a user friendly website. I definitely took a liking to the vBulletin system and their customization website, but would just like a more expert opinion on this matter.

kat

From our point of view, we're bound to say that we prefer SMF. Not least because VB is rather more expensive than SMF. Infinitely more expensive.

I mean, multiply zero by as much as you want and you're still left with "FREE!".

What's VB, now? Thirty grand, or so?

Have a look around the forum. You'll see all the good things that can happen with SMF. As this forum's open to everyone, you'll also be able to see the problems that people have had and how they were solved (Or not).

Definitely understand your stance with the SMF software, just definitely have to add, nice Picture of Gollum, made me crack up a bit. I appreciate how the people who have posted in this thread have been welcoming and have given a lot of insight.

I will definitely consider this software because of the positives, and I will also be reviewing the forums a bit more to see the customer response and how everyone enjoys the software available.

As far as modifications go, do the majority of the coders provide support for them?

Also, for this forum software, is the support strictly through the forums?

Again, pardon my ignorance, just trying to get a better feel for this environment so I can make a decision quick.

it is up to the mod authors if they provide support for their mods and to what extent. this forum is the only official source of support for smf we have.

True, now to think of it, if you factor in how many people will use the mod. Supporting it might be difficult. About support, that's good though, it seems that the users here are very knowledgeable and willing to help, definitely a good thing.

it is up to the mod authors if they provide support for their mods and to what extent. this forum is the only official source of support for smf we have.

True, now to think of it, if you factor in how many people will use the mod. Supporting it might be difficult. About support, that's good though, it seems that the users here are very knowledgeable and willing to help, definitely a good thing.

If the mod author isn't willing to give you a hand with using his/her mod, then another user will be helping you instead

I prefer forums over social networks. Within forums everybody gets to see others' content. In Social Networks all of your content (and the content of others) floats around the site, on its own.

I'd say, try every forum software you can find (even commercial ones if you're willing to pay) and see which one you like most SMF has a huge advantage that most forum softwares don't have: The huge collection of modifications which you can apply

Logged

My Mods / Mod Builder - A tool to easily create mods / Former support team member"I've heard from a reliable source that the Answer is 42. But, still no word on what the question is."

It's not ignorance, Eric. This is all new stuff, for you. You're doing the right thing, by doing a bit of research. Of course, if you DO go for VB, I'll come round and eat your cat.

By the way, if you want to get a feel for how things work, or not, have a gander at this lot:

hxxp:wiki.simplemachines.org [nonactive]

I think it's common sense to take a back up, even me as a newbie thinks it's second nature to always back up your stuff.

Yeah, researching this kind of topic is tough, there's so much to like, yet so little not to. As far as VB, good thing I have a dog lol. But it's still up in the air...there's a lot to consider and I think after I test everything out, plus include the mods that are available and useful, I will be able to factor out my decision.

That link is definitely a great resource, I like how all of the information is categorized and straight to point. Since the tech lingo can be a bit confusing, the K.I.S.S. mentality definitely can be helpful as well.

But as far as Facebook connecting to SMF, with the software out of the box, what connection can it have to show the activity on the forums on my Facebook fan page?

If the mod author isn't willing to give you a hand with using his/her mod, then another user will be helping you instead

I prefer forums over social networks. Within forums everybody gets to see others' content. In Social Networks all of your content (and the content of others) floats around the site, on its own.

I'd say, try every forum software you can find (even commercial ones if you're willing to pay) and see which one you like most SMF has a huge advantage that most forum softwares don't have: The huge collection of modifications which you can apply

Well aren't you all kind around here, definitely digging this friendly environment!

True about social networks, after further research, it is a better option to go with because you have more control. The power! Ha.

That's what I'm pretty much leaning towards, test out the software, put some mods that I can find that are interesting to me, and make my decision based off of that.

One question regarding support though, as far as who you take support from, how do you know who would be giving you the best assistance possible? Just curious.

we have like mods and similar but out of the box smf has nothing that works with facebook that i know of. maybe rss feed would work if facebook can use that.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to test out the software with those mods to see how they work. I've actually tried with the paid solutions that provide the Facebook connection and I'm hoping that the mods work similarly.

If the mod author isn't willing to give you a hand with using his/her mod, then another user will be helping you instead

I prefer forums over social networks. Within forums everybody gets to see others' content. In Social Networks all of your content (and the content of others) floats around the site, on its own.

I'd say, try every forum software you can find (even commercial ones if you're willing to pay) and see which one you like most SMF has a huge advantage that most forum softwares don't have: The huge collection of modifications which you can apply

Well aren't you all kind around here, definitely digging this friendly environment!

Kindness goes above all

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True about social networks, after further research, it is a better option to go with because you have more control. The power! Ha.

Do Social Networks give you more power?I always thought that you had more power over your content if using a forum :S(or I must be really misunderstanding this part of your post )

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That's what I'm pretty much leaning towards, test out the software, put some mods that I can find that are interesting to me, and make my decision based off of that.

Go on your way, bud', we're here to give you a helping hand

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One question regarding support though, as far as who you take support from, how do you know who would be giving you the best assistance possible? Just curious.

You can trust most (if not all) of our community members here There's a few Support Specialists which are great with giving support. There's also a few SHOTMs (Support Helper Of The Month) every month, just like me, which have been handing out support for a good while, solving answers and such.But please, when trading out passwords, look through someone's post history. You can be assured that Support Specialists don't steal your passwords, but still, you can't be careful enough

Logged

My Mods / Mod Builder - A tool to easily create mods / Former support team member"I've heard from a reliable source that the Answer is 42. But, still no word on what the question is."

Do Social Networks give you more power?I always thought that you had more power over your content if using a forum :S(or I must be really misunderstanding this part of your post )

Go on your way, bud', we're here to give you a helping hand

You can trust most (if not all) of our community members here There's a few Support Specialists which are great with giving support. There's also a few SHOTMs (Support Helper Of The Month) every month, just like me, which have been handing out support for a good while, solving answers and such.But please, when trading out passwords, look through someone's post history. You can be assured that Support Specialists don't steal your passwords, but still, you can't be careful enough

Oh sorry, I should have explained more, as far as power, I think forums offer more. The environment here is definitely something I am starting to warm up to, but with further consideration in having connection with Facebook out of the box and support (paid technical support members and also support forums). I have decided that maybe a paid solution would be best to go with for the time being, I will be going with vBulletin. Doesn't mean that I won't look at SMF in the future for other potential websites.

Thanks for all of the insight again, it was very valuable, and I hope I wasn't a waste of anyone's time.

I am from Indonesia. I can`t write english well. But i got the point of this topic. I am not mastering in SMF and scripts. but i love smf very much. My Site (Using SMF Software) is My networking...Very easy to use...